We’re increasingly hearing from employees that professional growth and forward-moving career trajectories aren’t just a nice to have. They are a need to have. And this report’s findings support this very idea.
When we looked at employees’ access to professional development or skills training, those who had it were more likely to stay. Those who didn’t have it were more likely to leave. Employees that reported having access to either internal or external professional development were more than 10% more likely to stay with their current employer ( F (1, 398) = 26.80, p < .001, partial η2 = .06). And lacking cross-training results in employees being 10% less likely to stay ( F (1, 398) = 15.80, p < .001, partial η2 = .04).
This really doesn’t come as a surprise to us. In our report on millennials , we found that 75% of millennials say they would consider looking for a new job if they didn’t see any opportunities for professional growth with their current employer. These findings show that this desire goes beyond your youngest employees and applies across workforce generations.